In 1946 Jon Cadwallader escapes from a Western Australian orphanage following a traumatic death. He returns to England to find the little sister he left behind in Liverpool, but much has changed and an unexpected setback ultimately affects his life in ways he does not foresee. He returns to Australia without his sister, but his new beginning is complicated and riven by lies, deception and death. Then, when he least expects it, a stroke of good fortune provides him with an opportunity that has the power to transform his life forever and confirms in him a growing conviction: Australia belongs to him as much as he belongs to Australia.